Теннис

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Rafael Nadal celebrated his 19th birthday with a hard fought win over World No. 1 Roger Federer at Roland Garros to enter the final against unseeded Argentine Mariano Puerta. Puerta outgrinded Nikolay Davydenko earlier Friday

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1st Federer, R. 665

2nd Nadal, R. 605

3rd Davydenko, N. 314

4th Safin, M. 275

5th Coria, G. 266

6th Puerta, M. 254

7th Hewitt, L. 253

8th Roddick, A. 251

9th Gaudio, G. 248

10th Ferrer, D. 224

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Nadal Celebrates into First Grand Slam Final

Rafael Nadal celebrated his 19 th birthday collapsing to the red clay on centre court at Roland Garros where he had just defeated World No. 1 Roger Federer.

The fourth seeded Spaniard advanced 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to his first career Grand Slam final where he will play unseeded Argentine Mariano Puerta who earlier upset in-form Russian Nikolay Davydenko.

Sunday's winner will mark the fourth consecutive year a first-time Grand Slam champion will be crowned at Roland Garros.

Nadal broke Federer nine times, a first for the Swiss. He also pushed Federer to 62 unforced errors extending his match-win streak to 23, the longest currently on the ATP circuit. An inspired Nadal handed Federer only his third defeat of the season and ended the Swiss star's 28 consecutive-set win streak promptly in the opening set.

He avenged a five set loss to Federer at the NASDAQ-100 Open final in March and now holds a 2-1 edge in career meetings.

Nadal is also 2-1 against Puerta, having won their last encounter in the semifinals of Acapulco 6-4, 6-1. When he meets Puerta, it will be the first all lefty Grand Slam final since Petr Korda defeated Marcelo Rios in the 1998 Australian Open.

Nadal will celebrate the biggest win of his young career for a long time to come. But to sustain Puerta's grinding power on Sunday, he'll have to put it on hold – at least for an afternoon.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:

Federer: Simple version for me is, uhm, started bad and finished bad basically (smiling), was good in the middle and that was not good enough. That's like the short and simple version. Of course, you know, afterwards you go further, but that's for me what I sum up right now.

On Nadal's improvement: Oh, I mean, of course he has. He deserved his victory. He was the better player tonight. Never take anything away from somebody who beat me, because I was trying my best. At times I played good; sometimes I didn't play so good. But I didn't feel like he's a totally different player to Miami. I mean, it's only two months ago. It's not much time to really improve your game. Even on clay, you know, he should have beaten me in three sets in Miami. And here I was already at four sets. I know I can beat him on any surface, which is good to know, because he's going to be a threat in the future. It's a pity, you know, he beat me here in the semis of a Slam , which is tough.

Nadal: Yeah, I am very happy. So I am very happy. I am in the final, for me that is very important. Is a dream for me. Is a dream for me. I can won today against the No. 1 -- not only the No. 1 for the tennis, but the No. 1 for the person and for his sportivity (sic).

On Federer finding his form in second set: He is playing very well in the second set. When he play very well, I can't do nothing, no? He have unbelievable forehand. And when his forehand go to my backhand, is very difficult for me. After in the third set, I can escape and I can improve in my game, no?

On Puerta: Well, he'll be difficult, you know, because it's Roland Garros. He's been playing very good tennis to be in the final. It will be a very complicated match. I'll have to play my best tennis and only like that will I be able to win.

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Fist Pumping Nadal Stuns Federer to gain Final

Friday, June 3, 2005

In a remarkable and inspiring birthday party, Rafael Nadal ran over top ranked Roger Federer in the semi-finals and fist pumped his way into the final against Mariano Puerta.

"It's a dream for me that I could beat the No. 1 in tennis, but also the number one person," said Nadal.

Never backing down despite Federer's frequent changes of strategy, Nadal stepped up his level in the third and fourth sets, ripping his huge lefty forehand, keeping his backhand deep and to angles and passing the net-rushing Federer accurately and with power.

Federer has moments in the match when he was dominating with his forehand, but in the last two sets, consistently dumped it into the net when trying to go inside out or down the line. The four-time Grand Slam champion kept his first serve percentage up high, but never dominated with it, as the quick Nadal managed to get balls back in play and win numerous points with his legs.

Moreover, Nadal's lefty spin confounded him, as the Swiss was unable to employ the normal patterns that uses against right-handers.

Despite the fact that he turned just 19-years-old on Friday, Nadal showed no nerves in closing out sets, turning from defense to offense on a dime. He shocked the Swiss by taking the third set with three nuclear forehand winner and closing to the net on set point and clocking a forehand volley into the open court.

Federer increasingly became frustrated by his inability to close out points, while Nadal grew more secure that he could turn points around from the back court. Nadal broke Federer to 5-3 when the Swiss framed a backhand. He then closed out the match in brave fashion, whacking two forehand winners down the line, blitzing an overhead into the open court and then falling to the ground in utter joy when Federer flew a forehand long.

Federer's goal of winning the only Grand Slam title that has eluded him was shattered.

"My disappointment is obvious," Federer said. "I was in the final four and with a chance to win. I was trying my best and didn't always play that well. In know I can beat him on any surface. It's a pity he beat me here. But it's tough to impose yourself in five sets on clay and especially when he's a lefty and hits with so much spin. I didn't think he played much better than me. I had the keys to beat him if I played my best. I played poorly to finish and he was consistent and solid."

After winning, the Spaniard got off the ground with clay caked on his back and scissor-kicked into the air.

"If I win this tournament it'll be a dream come true," said Nadal.

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Puerta Grinds into Roland Garros Final

Mariano Puerta of Argentina showed how unseeded, unheralded and widely unknown players have so often succeeded at Roland Garros when he upset in-form Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals: grind, grind, grind.

In nothing less than a war of attrition, Puerta rallied from 1-2 sets down past a fatigued Davydenko 6-3, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in three hours, 29 minutes, ending the No. 12 seed's 10-match consecutive win streak.

Puerta has played exclusively on clay in 2005, and now totes a 23-8 win-loss record into Sunday's final where he will meet No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal who stunned World No. 1 Roger Federer to advance. Puerta is tied with Spaniard David Ferrer with the third most match wins on clay this year.

So Puerta is decidely a clay court specialist on a surface where such specialists thrive. His win today means that there will be an unseeded player in the final at Roland Garros for the third consecutive year. Last year, unseeded Argentine Gaston Gaudio claimed the title in five grueling sets against compatriot Guillermo Coria.

He is also the fifth lowest-ranked Roland Garros finalist:

100, Medvedev, 1999

66, Kuerten, 1997 (winner)

46, Verkerk, 2003

44, Gaudio, 2004 (winner)

37, Puerta, 2005

Puerta is appearing in his first Grand Slam since the 2003 US Open. He won the Casablanca title earlier this year and was a finalist at Buenos Aires.

His performance here far exceeds his best previous showing in a major. In 2000, he reached the third round here but was forced to retire with a right hamstring injury, when trailing Juan Carlos Ferrero 62 32.

Although Puerta will go up against Rafael Nadal, the ATP's hottest clay court player, in Sunday's final, past success at Roland Garros show that if he can grind -- he can win.

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WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:

Puerta: This is a sport where nothing is given for free. You need to win each point, each match, and it's very tough. This gives me a lot of confidence. I feel very proud of what I have achieved. I feel that from now on I'm going to be able to see things differently, I'm going to feel more confident on the court, to play in the other Grand Slams. For example, I'm going to feel more confident every time I go to a Masters Series on clay, I'll feel more confident. I think that what's happening to me is great and it's going to help me to grow as a player and it's going to help me a lot to grow as a person, as well.

On playing Nadal in the final: With Nadal it would be a battle, a battle, because we're both left-handers; we both have the same sort of strokes. We would both arrive at that match with huge self-confidence. I think that, well, in any case it's going to be a good match to play.

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Bryans Face Bjorkman/Mirnyi in Final

The Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, will play for their second career Grand Slam title together when they meet Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi in Saturday's Roland Garros doubles title.

This will be the third meeting between the teams this year, with the American twins claiming the first two (Australian Open semifinals and AMS Rome semifinals).

The third-seeded Bryans reached their fourth career Grand Slam final together when the World No. 1 team of Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor had to retire with the Americans leading 6-3 3-2. Nestor had to stop playing because of a left wrist injury.

The Bryans won the 2003 doubles title at Roland Garros.

Bjorkman and Mirnyi got past Olympic champions Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3 4-6 6-4.

The newly teamed Bjorkman and Mirnyi have already claimed the titles at ATP Masters Series events in Miami and Hamburg in 2005 so far.

Mirnyi is a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion having won the US Open title in 2000 (with Lleyton Hewitt) and 2002 (with Mahesh Bhupathi). Bjorkman is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion, but is appearing in the Roland Garros final for just the second time in his career. He reached the 1994 final with countryman Jan Apell.

The mixed doubles final is also in place. Second-seeded Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes will take on Daniela Hantuchova and Fabrice Santoro Friday. Both were straight sets winners Thursday.